Too Much of a Good Thing
by DonaldDouglasandToby6
Summary: Marion's singing and talking of digging starts to effect the Clay Pits' performance. When she starts a desperate attempt to keep digging, she realizes that there can be too much of a good thing.


Marion is a steam shovel who loves to dig, but she also loves talking about digging.

Marion digs all day until work is over for the day, dumping dirt, mud, or clay into Bill and Ben's trucks.

Bill and Ben are often annoyed by Marion's constant talking about digging, and although Marion means well, sometimes even Timothy gets a little annoyed sometimes.

One day, Marion was digging clay out of the side of a slope at the Clay Pits as usual.

"Digging, digging, oh, I love digging!" she sang.

Bill grunted.

"Just fill up the trucks, Marion."

"Clay pours from my bucket, ho ho, it's so fun!" Marion chortled as she dumped the mud into Bill's trucks.

"Ugh, give it a rest, will you?" asked Bill.

"No Bill, my digging is important."

"I didn't mean the digging," huffed Bill, "I meant your singing."

Marion snorted as Bill huffed indignantly away.

"Has she stopped yet?" asked Ben hopefully as Bill puffed into the main area of the pits.

"No. She's worse than Salty!" Bill cried.

"It's not _that_ bad." said Timothy helpfully.

"Come on Timothy, even you said once or twice you don't find it entertaining." scoffed Ben.

"But we wouldn't want to hurt her feelings." said Timothy.

Bill and Ben groaned.

"Honestly Timothy, you're such a wimp sometimes." huffed Ben.

"No, I respect other engines' jobs. Besides, it's not-"

"Ooooh, digging is the best for me, I'm free to dig whatever I please without having to sneeze. I like digging, yes, oh yes. I like digging. Who knows what I'll find? A ship, a dinosaur, or even a statue! I like digging, it's one of a kind!"

Marion's singing could be heard in the distance.

"You were saying?" huffed Bill.

Timothy sighed.

"Ok, ok, so maybe it is a little annoying. Who are we to deal with her own business though?"

"We're all part of the Clay Pits' industry Timothy." scowled Ben.

"Oh Ben, I have clay for you!"

"Joy." huffed the little engine as he puffed over to where the steam shovel was digging.

Bill and Timothy sighed as Marion starting singing once more.

Bill and Ben puffed into Brendam Docks with a train of clay.

Derek was shunting a couple of flatbeds out of the way as they arrived.

"Ugh, that Marion's getting to be a pain in the buffers!" wailed Bill.

Derek overheard this.

"Marion? The steam shovel? What does she do exactly?" Derek asked.

"She sings about digging, talks about digging, and she never stops!" grumbled Ben.

"Oh my. Sounds like a bufferful." chuckled Derek.

"It's almost as annoying as Cranky complaining all the time." agreed Bill.

"Hey, I do **not** complain all the time." huffed Cranky.

"Have you been listening this whole time?" asked Ben.

"So what? I listen to every conversation here, even when people think I can't hear them. It's kind of funny." said Cranky.

"Okay... So how do we stop Marion?" asked Bill.

"Just tell her to stop digging." suggested Cranky.

"Uh... no. I suggest you try and deal with it; Marion means well, after all."

"Everybody says that Derek!" said Bill crossly.

"Well, she does. It's not like she's intentionally trying to annoy you." said Derek.

"Maybe so, but it's still getting in the way." said Bill, "I'd just like to put a stop to it."

"Me too!" agreed Ben.

At the Clay Pits, Marion hummed a tune as she loaded Timothy's trucks.

"She's a really useful shovel we know. All the other engines they'll tell you so! Stand back in amazement, just you watch her dig! She's the really useful shovel we adore!"

Timothy sighed in exasperation.

"Marion-" he tried to say, but Timothy was cut off.

"Oh yes Timothy, I made that song myself!"

She then gasped in excitement.

"I just remembered the time I dug up a giant treasure chest! Really amazing! It was filled with gold and jewels!" Marion sighed happily.

Timothy rolled his eyes.

"Marion, that's not what I meant." he said.

"Oh, is it not? Oh, you must want a different memory! Well, there was the time that I dug everything out when the Clay Pits had a disastrous landslide! Oh, i still remember it all! Saving Percy made me a hero!"

Timothy just groaned as Marion kept digging and talking.

He was beginning to think that Bill and Ben had a point after all.

That night, the four friends went to the shed to rest for the night.

"Maybe for once we'll have a break from her singing." huffed Bill, but there was no such luck for them, for Marion was humming in her sleep.

"She's the one... (snore) She's the one... (snore) She's the Really Useful Shovel that we adore..."

Timothy sighed.

"I'm sorry, but this is getting to be a bit much."

"I'm sleeping at Wellsworth." Bill puffed as the twins steamed away.

That left Timothy with Marion.

"Oooh dear." groaned Timothy as Marion hummed.

The next morning, Marion was digging as usual.

"I love clay! Don't you love clay?" Marion gleefully asked Bill.

"Um... sure." yawned Bill.

Marion dug against a hard slope of clay.

"Come on, clay! We must dig you!" Marion said.

"Oh great. Marion's gotten so nutty that she's talking to clay." Bill thought.

Marion swung her shovel and banged it against the clay wall.

"Come on, some clay must've fallen from that!" Marion cried, but none did.

"Oh dear, oh dear, this is most upsetting. Perhaps we should find other methods of digging." said Marion.

Bill grumbled under his breath as Marion chattered about demolition and blasting.

"And that's how we can dig this mud!" Marion finished.

Bill had fallen asleep from the lecture.

"Bill? Are you listening to me, Bill?"

Bill woke with a start.

"Huh? What? Oh can it Marion, I was dreaming about chocolate." Bill said, clearly agitated.

"You don't even eat!" Marion said crossly.

"So? I pretended I could." said Bill smugly.

Marion was now frustrated.

"I'm trying to tell you how to do digging, but nobody listens! Alright, we'll do this the hard way!" and Marion once again banged the shovel against the clay.

"Um, Marion, that's not a very good idea." cautioned Bill, but Marion had already began swinging her shovel and banging it against the clay.

Bill winced.

"Marion, you're going to cause a-"

"Not now, Bill! I have to dig!" Marion huffed as she banged her shovel again

. Bill, in a fit of frustration. whistled loudly to get Marion's attention.

"Marion, you're going to cause a-"

Before Bill could finish, a vibration rushed through his boiler as he noticed rocks and clay starting to fall off the cliff.

"-landslide!" Bill cried.

He raced ahead of Marion, shouting "Landslide! Clear the pits! Clear the pits!"

Ben, Timothy, the manager, and the workmen were surprised but quickly evacuated the area.

"Quick Marion, get out of there!" shouted Bill, but no answer came.

There was no time to go and get her though, for the engines and men raced out of the Pits and into Brendam Docks.

"Help!" shouted Ben as the engines raced in.

"We're alright now, Ben! You can come back." called Timothy.

Ben, embarrassed, raced backward to Bill and Timothy.

"Where's Marion?" asked Timothy worriedly.

"Oh no!" cried Ben, "She must be still at the pits!"

And she was indeed; she was completely buried in clay, and couldn't move at all. She couldn't even speak.

"Quick, we've got to rescue her!" cried Timothy, and he raced off to Suddery.

At Suddery, The Pack were building a new school.

"Oh boy, oh boy! When do we get to see it done?" asked Ned excitedly.

"Not for a while," chuckled Byron, "Just be patient."

Suddenly Timothy raced in and whistled loudly, alerting the construction vehicles.

"Pack, there's a problem at the Clay Pits! It's been buried, and so is Marion!"

This got the attention of Ms. Jenny.

"Timothy, what's going on?" she asked urgently, as she ran up to the oil-burning engine.

"M'am, the clay pits are buried, and Marion's still inside! We need some of The Pack to help!" Timothy cried.

"This is a job for Jack! Come on everyone! Isobella and Patrick can stay here. Everybody else, come on!" called Jack as some of the Pack raced onto the road, following Timothy to the Clay Pits.

When they arrived, the Pack immediately set to work.

Jack, Alfie, and Ned scooped clay into Max and Monty, who took it away.

"We'll do it! We'll do it!" Ned chanted as Max grunted.

Surprisingly though, even Max and Monty worked hard.

Byron pushed away rocks and Kelly lifted damaged structures when necessary.

By the time they were finished, it was evening.

"Mud, glorious mud!" laughed Alfie as everyone sighed with relief when they dug out Marion.

Marion coughed as she opened her eyes as Jack removed the last of the dirt.

"Steaming shovels, what happened?" Marion asked.

"I did warn you of the landslide after you banged the clay wall. Still ridiculous that you did that..." huffed Bill.

Marion sighed.

"I know, I"m sorry."

"And?" asked Bill cheekily, mimicking her stern tone.

"Um... there's nothing else to be sorry for." said Marion.

"You should be sorry we had to do so much work." huffed Monty.

"That's not what I meant." argued Bill, "It's that, Marion, you... sing and talk way too much about digging. Whenever we work, it gets distracting for us."

"Is this true, Timothy?" Marion asked sheepishly.

"Um... yes." said Timothy slowly.

"Oh..." Marion realized.

"So **that's** what this is about? Pathetic!" snorted Max.

"We dug all day for some sappy stuff? Ugh!" agreed Max.

"I'm sorry everyone. I'll try to limit my talking and singing. I guess, there is too much of a good thing." Marion promised.

From then on, Marion only sang to herself and talked about digging to engines who wanted to hear it, and Bill, Ben, and Timothy were very relieved.


End file.
